Chemical spill closed part of Oracle

Chemical spill closed part of Oracle

Randy Metcalf/The Explorer, A chemical spill of about 1,000 gallons of hypochlorite shut down Oracle Road for more than an hour Monday afternoon. No injuries were sustained, and no one was evacuated in the one-vehicle incident, which was just south of Ranch Vistoso Boulevard in the northbound lane of Oracle Road.

Oracle Road was closed in Oro Valley on Monday
afternoon after a vehicle carrying about 1,600 gallons of
hypochlorite leaked about 1,000 gallons of its load.

Golder Ranch Fire District responded to a
9-1-1-phone call reporting a chemical spill along Oracle Road just
south of Rancho Vistoso Boulevard in the northbound lane.

"We're fortunate there was no immediate
threats to anyone in the sense that this is a relative benign
chemical," said John Sullivan, Golder Ranch's community services
division chief. "People use it day in and day out to treat your
water with it, you can use it to clean your pools and things like
that."

No injuries were reported.

According to Sullivan, it appeared the weight
of the load shifted when the driver of the vehicle hit the brakes,
causing some of the 300-gallon containers of the chemical to break
open. When the liquid chemical mixed with dirt alongside the road,
it solidified.

Northbound Oracle Road traffic was diverted
west along Tangerine Road, and southbound traffic was diverted onto
Rancho Vistoso Boulevard. Oracle Road's southbound lane was opened
to traffic at about 3:15 p.m.